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  • Crissy Jones of Los Alamitos High School is the 2013...

    Crissy Jones of Los Alamitos High School is the 2013 girls volleyball player of the year.

  • Crissy Jones of Los Alamitos High School is the 2013...

    Crissy Jones of Los Alamitos High School is the 2013 girls volleyball player of the year.

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Damian Calhoun. Sports Newsroom Assistant.

// MORE INFORMATION: Associate Mug Shot taken August 24, 2010 : by KATE LUCAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

The Los Alamitos student section had a special chant for her.

After matches, she was treated like a celebrity as students waited to take a picture with her.

All in all, it was pretty good to be Crissy Jones.

Jones made the switch from middle blocker to outside hitter and still managed to lead the top-ranked Griffins to the CIF-SS Division 1AA title and to a CIF State Division I finals appearance.

The CIF-SS title was the first for the Griffins since 2011. It was their first CIF State finals berth since 2006.

“Her leadership is one of the big reasons why we did so well,” senior outside hitter Annie Hale said. “She’s the reason why we’re all so close with each other. She’s really thrived on the outside.

“In years past, teams can be kind of cliquey. But I think this year, Crissy was really good about making sure that if there was a problem between people, it gets resolved and that we all get along. On the court we’re sisters.”

For the roles she took on this season, Jones has earned the selection as the Register’s Girls Volleyball Player of the Year.


RELATED:

2013 All-County girls volleyball team

Girls volleyball coach of the year: Dan Thomassen, Sage Hill


Jones recorded 607 kills (.342 hitting percentage), 61 blocks, 340 digs and 26 aces.

The University of Washington-bound Jones was a four-year starter on varsity and earned first-team All-County honors as a sophomore and junior at middle blocker.

“She had to learn a new position, and she struggled at times early, but she worked hard at it,” Coach Dave Huber said of Jones switching to outside. “We had to put her in more spots to help us.

“She plays with so much energy and passion that it rubs off on everyone.”

Jones’ work in the back row, digging and passing, was an underrated aspect of her game.

Her experience helped the Griffins prevail in a CIF-SS quarterfinals match against Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach. Los Alamitos trailed, 2-1, but won the next two sets to stay alive in the playoffs. Jones had 21 kills and five blocks.

“She’s helped us get through it all,” libero Rylee Hunt said. “She’s been in the finals. Some of us hadn’t, but she’s been there before and she had that experience.”

After that near-elimination, the Griffins cruised to the CIF title, losing only one set in the semifinals and finals, combined.

Assuming the leadership role was something Jones relished.

“The team looks up to me when things aren’t going so well,” she said this season. “That’s a captain’s job, to make sure everyone is together and doing well.

“We were able to focus every day we were in the gym, playing hard every day and making each other better. No matter what we’re doing, whether it was pepper or 6-on-6, just making sure that we’re getting better.”

With Jones leading the way, that was the only way for the Griffins to go.

Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com